7 Revenge of the Skrulls
by redcloudedleopard
Summary: More action coming your way, readers! Ozai finally tests his robotic project, & Azula's 'secret' is revealed to the public. Rupert has been replaced by a friend of my sister's named Andrew, who requested for a role. Worry not; he's much less annoying!
1. Contest

Kl'rt the Super Skrull watched four strings lower four functional dummies, his body armed with four new _fantastic_ attributes & ready as ever. Always the diligent baddie, this marked a very high number of training sessions that commenced on his schedule since he received precious genetic keys containing the Fantastic Four's own powers. To do that, he risked the knowledge of his fellow Skrulls for he consulted a Kree. & of all Krees, Ronan the Accuser (who shared at least one common interest with him) was the one on his list to pick. The dummies were released & turned to attack Kl'rt, who tried an approach as creative as he could to bring them down in seconds. Hard as it was to sift through his serious facial expression, confidence coursed through his sinews, & it came close to boiling over. Successfully, he left each dummy mangled & malfunctioning after unleashing a combo of rapid moves. **One thing was for sure, that diligent hands would rule & skill brought about success.** As Skrull commander, he demonstrated these qualities which undergirded his servants' reverence toward him.

He breathed his little victory (possibly the 1000th little victory) & muttered something about Skrull-style dominion over the Four. His words were audible to cunning Ronan who had been watching the practice session in silence. The Kree was very happy to lend a hand, so long as he held his end of the bargain. He quickly pointed out in response to Kl'rt, "Remember our deal, Skrull." With clarity, he continued, "Destroy the rest of the Fantastic Four," his next sentence rang clearer, "but the Human Torch belongs to me. Only then will I give you what you need." He had in mind a vengeful villain's scheme, yet to unfold. Kl'rt's reply was courteous despite his enemy-turned-ally-in-secret's selfishness, "Of course, Ronan." The Human Torch dummy was still twitching; Ronan let out his frustration with a big stomp on the dummy's head that silenced it.

***

A Fantastic Four logo was on display today - only there was a number '5' in place of the conventional '4'. Printed on a huge banner on the Baxter Building's front wall, it caused a gathering crowd to grow excited to learn more about Sue's "Be A Fantastic Fifth For A Day" contest - a booster for the team's PR. Obviously. There was a Wolverine impersonator, a guy in a Robin costume & countless other wannabes of existing superheroes making up the throng of people.

"Wait a minute; we're doing _what_?" asked a blur Johnny. His sister replied calmly, "I've been telling you this for weeks. Look, just smile & wave. & don't burn anything down!" She was bursting inside to get into her opening speech, hand firm on the mic. When she addressed the crowd, the sea of faces cheered. "The winner of today's contest will get to spend a day with the team!" was the part of her speech which got the cogs in Johnny's mind working. He scratched his head. "Did she go crazy? Is that it? Why would she do this?" Reed, although busy on his PDA, quickly pointed out, "A little goodwill would never hurt anyone, Johnny. After all, the city sometimes takes the brunt of our more...destructive adventures." Ben snapped, "What? We tore up the city a little so now we gotta make nice? Great.." But he didn't wish to end on a sour note, "Well there's one thing I love; it's parading around like a giant freak for people." The others were wondering how sarcastic he was being (if he was intending to be sarcastic at all). When he surveyed the crowd, he spotted a crazed youngster: covered in pebbles. The world's crazy..., thought Ben with a dropped jaw. His voice nearly broke & sort of squeaked, "I think that kid..glued rocks all over himself..." Johnny seized the moment - "Maybe he wants to be your sidekick: The Thing & Boulder Boy! Ha ha ha!"

Ben was strong enough in will to ignore him. He continued scanning the throng of excited faces. In seconds, he noticed the difference now. Moments earlier there weren't _that_ many sets of twins & triplets being part of the contestants. "Stretch, am I going nuts or are there a dozen sets of twins out there?? &..is that a leprechaun?" His mind told him the world got crazier. Reed wanted to see to the matter right away. "Johnny! The leprechaun! Get him!" That solved Johnny's occasional boredom issues (when he had to tag along on any team events aside from missions). "Aw, sweet! Flame on!" For a split second he caught sight of his target, clad in green. Johnny followed & weaved his way through the air. But the next moment, the green creature seemed to have vanished completely, so he flew back to the stage. Unbeknown to him, the leprechaun had taken the form of a teenage boy, now clad in blue & red apparel. Black was the cornea of his eyes, & the iris was blood red. Nobody saw this.

"Sorry, we need to conference for a moment." Reed took on his authoritative tone as he turned to Sue at the podium. "Be right back, folks!" he spoke into the mic. Sue sheepishly laughed & rendered herself invisible to try save the humiliation for later. She did not hesitate to ask, "What are you doing? You're ruining my contest!" "The crowd has been infiltrated with Skrulls!" Reed exclaimed. "So?" was Ben's casual question that followed.

"What do you mean 'so'? We knew they'd be back. This could be the start of an invasion!"

Johnny filled in, "Uh, good, because this contest," he made a Bronx cheer childishly, "boring!" Sue pelted him with a force field, making him yelp an "Ow!" She retorted, "It is not! Honestly Reed, could we talk about it tonight? I'm right in the middle of this."

Ben rejected the suggestion, "No! My show's on tonight! You have to stop an invasion, let's do it now.."

Mr. Fantastic got firm, "It's an _alien invasion_!"

Sue gave the room to Reed out of respect, but was honest, "True but...it's just that the Skrulls..well, they're kinda dumb."

"That may be the case but we have to take this seriously. The contest is over."

"What?!"

"Hallelujah!" yelled Johnny.

"Reed, I put weeks of work into this contest. We have to do this."

"Fine." He looked away & stretched his left hand toward the crowd, randomly picking someone out. "You. You win!" he turned & told his person of choice. "Congratulations! Now everyone go home."

The 'winner' went by the name Andrew, wearing a white blouse & grey-green pants, which was probably his school uniform. "Yesssss!!!! Yesssss!" he screamed while falling to his knees. His neighbours in the crowd felt quite the opposite, however. Moans & groans echoed about the air. "Err, wasn't that great, folks? Thanks for coming! See you next year!" said poor Sue to the dispersing contestants. A failure of her precious contest...& a little tarnishing of the team image.

***

Andrew was bouncy, deciding to amp up his use of flowery language to impress the Four. "Well, where to first? A tour? Of your humble penthouse abode?" His ear-to-ear grin was laughable, only the FF had more than half their minds on the Skrulls than their temporary fifth member's pearly whites. "Look, Andrew. You need to go home. We'll...._mail_ you your prize," replied Sue hesitantly.

That bothered Reed the least, for the lobby appeared to be congested with human traffic. Every time someone eyed the five of them, they received a rather cold stare. The faces of the people were familiar, namely the lady who waters the plants, & a delivery guy with shaggy black hair & the fishmonger. "Mmmm, fish," said Johnny. When he turned away, the fishmonger's eyes changed colour but still, not even Reed saw this.

Ben said, "Lobby seems awfully crowded."

"Yes, it does..," Reed added. "Let's regroup upstairs. Head for the elevator."

Andrew wasn't very happy, & put on an innocent look which was almost puppy-eyed. "Well...you did say I could _spend a day with the team_. Ah, well."

Sue said earnestly, "Yeah, sorry. You need to -"

"The Skrulls are in the building. We have to move."

More people from outside entered the lobby through the front doors. Suddenly it dawned on the team that every person around them was closing in on them. These weren't their regular lobby bunch for sure, so they backed into the elevator & Reed shut the doors before the Skrull's ambush could commence successfully. He pressed the button to take them to the penthouse. Sue was nice enough to grab Andrew to take him along, just for the sake of safety plus the Fantastic Four's PR.

"Hmmm, do you think electrostatic fields will crash the elevator? Because my phone keeps getting chain messages," Andrew mentioned out of the blue, glancing at his phone.

"Ugh, guys...I'm...I'm not feeling too well. I think I picked up a bad case of GIANT DWEEB-ITIS," Johnny interjected.

Ben changed the subject, "Can this thing go any faster?"

The elevator door opened to the penthouse main corridor; Johnny ran out fastest, probably to ditch the "dweeb-itis". Just then, H.E.R.B.I.E. had a big warning in store for the team. "Dr. Richards, there's been a deep space alert."

Dr. Richards responded, "What? When?"

"Well...right now. & it's more like...'already here' alert." At this, Reed tensed up. Through the glass panes above them hovered a massive spaceship. It's dark surfaces made it more threatening; the vehicle blocked out nearly all the sunlight. Passers-by below were already getting their cameras & gawking at the ship. The team sped to the hangar & made their way to the rooftop.

Andrew obviously assumed this was part of the 'tour'. "This is gonna be exciting...do I get a code name? How about - "Sound Man"?" He chuckled. "I play the violin!" Nearest to him were Ben & Sue who didn't reply. But they paid close attention when he gazed upward & pointed at the alien ship, "Look, a Skrull Vindicator Class command ship!"

"Shouldn't we leave you inside? & how on earth would you know that?" asked Reed, keeping his cool.

"I found it on the net. Once."

They noticed just in time that a shaft of the ship had opened. A beam of bright violet shot out of that shaft, transporting the Super Skrull to where the team stood. He was rather slender in form, & looked like he could move lithely. He was a worthy opponent even without being flanked by his men.

"Fantastic Four....you will surrender to the _Skrull Empire_!" Super Skrull's voice boomed with confidence. Johnny & Ben, cocky as they were, folded their arms & guffawed. Careful Reed questioned Kl'rt in a similiar tone as the alien's, "What is the meaning of this invasion? What do you want with Earth?"

"There is a war going on, Reed Richards. My people have been fighting the Kree for thousands of years. & now -"

"Is this gonna be a long story?" Johnny was already tapping the ground with his foot & being cheekily impatient. This however, proved useful so as to prevent the Four from losing their focus so early in battles (when the villains got long-winded).

"Silence!" the alien's voice thundered. "Your planet is in a strategic location. But this is no invasion." Sue was flabbergasted & muttered angrily, "See? You canceled the contest for nothing." Part of her wished her eyes could bore into Reed's this instant.

"No, the invasion comes _later_. What the Skrulls want to see is the _final defeat of the Fantastic Four._"

"It's Fantastic Five today, alien," Andrew answered back. The team didn't mind a confidence boost.

Ben's plus point was his non-hesitant approach to a fight. Being the "less talk, more action" kinda guy, he stepped forward, "Talk time's over, pal. Now it's clobberin' t -" The exception: This time round, he said a little too much. Kl'rt packed a rapid, powerful punch. Before he knew it, Ben hurtled through the air too fast; he landed all the way in the water below a suspension bridge. FF was down to four members. Super Skrull mustered ounces of strength. He flexed every muscle & his sinews bulged till the shoulder guards he usually wore snapped out of place. But who needed shoulder guards when he had mastered the Four's abilities? Momentarily, he went invisible to complete the activation of his powers. Abruptly, his body was coated in flames - all done on his own accord. His Skrull eyes were now a blinding yellow; he cackled upon seeing his foes' changed expressions for they were taken aback. Even Reed didn't see such a challenge coming.


	2. Confrontation

"Azula! Listen to me!"

"What's up, dad? Don't rush."

"I'm almost back, but there's a titan-sized ship hovering above the building roof right now! See if you can help our friends."

"No problem."

"Slip on that power-channeling suit I made for you. It's not a bad time to test it!"

"What?! But -"

"I'll refine it later! Just slip it on & get up there!"

"Okay, okay."

"& be _careful_! I'll be testing Leopard X as well!"

Ozai hung up. Azula did as she was told, much to her annoyance. Her dad would look great in his gleaming defense project of a suit. But not her. She opened her closet. The suit currently resembled diver's attire. How mocked she felt right now as this suit wasn't even close to a defense project. Ozai had made it for her during his free time in the past few days, & that was all. Sleek & black, with a bright blue fire pattern lining the midline & upper arms. In the center of the chest area, the flame shape was white. An additional layer of protective material was sewn onto the shoulder blades & collarbone area. But still. It looked like a diver's costume. Oh well.

She asked L.Y., the 'family computer' for her view. "L.Y., tell me I don't look like I'm about to slip on scuba diving equipment."

"You look most dashing, Ms. Chen. & very formidable."

"Absolutely sure?"

"Affirmative." The computer's voice sounded clear like a bell, even honest.

"Thanks."

***

Super Skrull lurched forward with a stretched torso. He secured a perimeter around the FF with his body before making it invisible. That first trick up his sleeve was deadly indeed. Sue, as she knew the depth of her powers familiarly, could still detect him although she risked being inaccurate. "Watch out, he's right behind you!" she yelled to Johnny. Johnny spun around & ducked in time, out of the way of Kl'rt's rock fist attack. Still on the ground & preparing to spring back up, Johnny grinned in satisfaction. Sue seemed appalled.

"Great reflexes, Johnny," she couldn't help but comment. "How did you do that so fast?"

"Zed's intensive training...," her brother replied. It was true. Azula was an early morning riser & had agreed a while ago to give him 'lessons', just so they wouldn't argue like mere kids. She had taught him quite a bit already on sensing, anticipating & dodging opponents. Sessions were held in the FF's training room shortly after eight o'clock each morning.

Super Skrull sent a force field pulse in Reed's direction which knocked him off balance. Andrew stood frozen with nothing much he could to do protect himself. Sue rushed in front of him to block Kl'rt's inferno of a fist. Her force field plate, though wide, could only fend off her foe for so long. An angry Kl'rt made both fists rock hard _&_ burning with heat at the same time - & smashed. Sue lost much of her focus, tumbling to the ground whilst gritting her teeth. Andrew fell back, too, now in an even more frozen state.

"Sue!" Johnny screamed, nearly an octave higher. Rarely did he lose his cool this way. But it was his sis in peril. He flew in a rage toward Kl'rt to engulf him in a flaming tornado. The grinning alien found him the most predictable in battle although he was ironically the most dangerous to touch. Johnny had speed on his side but to no avail, Kl'rt's stretchy arms wrapped around him until they constricted his flaming body in milliseconds. Most luckily, Kl'rt wouldn't go further than knock him out in order to obtain his reward from Ronan afterward. "Oh, don't worry, Human Torch. You won't be hurt. There are plans for you...." The lack of oxygen was not only quenching the Human Torch's flames, it also slowed down his concentration. The flames went out completely & he fell into unconsciousness.

The large door of the roof suddenly opened. Azula leapt out in a flash, surveying the area before plotting her next few moves. H.E.R.B.I.E. had given her a lift using one of his big robotic arms in the hangar. She well knew when she spotted Johnny & Sue lying motionless that she'd have to strike with cat-like agility to avoid ending up like them. Gaze then fixed upon a surprised Kl'rt, she waved her hands back & forth to generate a blue wheel of flame. Thrusting her arms like how a focused magician does with a floating object, she launched the wheel right into the Skrull. He remained standing but was struggling to regain footing. His upper body stung a little from the heat: his new opponent's flames were hotter than the hottest flame he could generate.

"That's...impossible! Who are you?" Kl'rt bellowed.

"Just another adversary," Azula snapped sharply. She cartwheeled out of the way before Kl'rt's rock fist reached her.

Reed dealt a mighty blow to Kl'rt's back; mighty enough to make the Skrull leader compress his stretched body back to normal. He too fell onto the hard concrete, chin first."Stay away from my friends!" Reed shouted.

Super Skrull stretched upward again, mind set only on Mr. Fantastic. He & Reed looked like two long Chinese dragons engaged in a fight. "I've been training for months, studying the four of you. I've fought this fight a thousand times in simulation."

"Then why haven't you beaten me yet?" Reed began tightening his grip around his opponent, much like that of a boa constrictor at work.

That wasn't the wisest move; Kl'rt ignited his body very fiercely. Against the shining sun, he looked almost as blinding. It didn't burn Reed a bit, but it depleted the air supply around him enough for Kl'rt to conk him out with a final blow. The Super Skrull had proved to be quite the villain. He relaxed his mind to answer Reed, "Because I want to savour the experience." A loud cackle rang from his throat as he raised both arms skyward. Soon a flock of crows landed beside him, & transfigured back into their original selves - Skrull minions.

"Reed!" said Azula. Too many adversaries were now cornering her. "Have you given up, friend of the Fantastic Fools?" said Super Skrull darkly. His eyes locked onto Azula. Almost instantly, he then unleashed a wave of fireballs at her. Thankfully, she initiated an escape plan - _jumping off the roof_. It was more insane to re-enter the hangar & run downstairs, anyway. She'd tried the free fall thing before but never from this height. Ozai would never allow her to do this, but she had.

Would the force of her flame jets be enough to break her fall? She'd be regarded as having superhero-standard prowess if she made it work. Above all,_ her fiery abilities would be discovered, possibly by the world._ If the media caught her, she'd probably have to explain the _accident_ years back that had given her the pyro-wielding powers she could utilize. She wanted to shudder at the thought but focused her energy the best she could. Before she hit the ground, she was to fire off all this strength in a downward direction, pulsing from her palms, her feet, her arms & legs, ultimately deep from her core. If the force was powerful enough, she'd temporarily be able to hover in mid-air in order to slow her descent. The ground was already rushing up to meet her, & air gushing upward seemed to cut through her. If it wasn't for the suit, it would hurt badly, like the kind of pain inflicted by icy gusts.

She let her energy flow loose. Either time or her concentration was slowing to a stop, or it was working. For a number of short breaths, things were blurry. But then she looked down to see azure fire streaming out of her body, brighter than ever, almost in a magnificent display. She exhaled in relief. Her speed of falling actually diminished till she was hovering. The concrete ground was only a few metres below. & yes, a group of impressed people were watching her already. A young child pointed a finger at her. "Look, Daddy!" she said. Azula knew there was no turning back from this moment on.

***

Super Skrull switched focus again. He had three FF members in his net, & that sufficed. Each one of the Skrulls joined their commander in a cacophony of what seemed to be their victory chant. Around them, none of the FF members regained consciousness.

Only Andrew was left, plucky enough to emerge from his hiding place behind a pole. Still, he was thinking this was part of the Fantastic Four contest winner's agenda. This well explained why he wasn't at all afraid of the _very real_ aliens that stood before him with perplexed faces.

"Well, they're gonna wake up. & escape. & then you'll have to fight again. & we will find some way to beat you. Maybe with a new invention."

"We shall see...," Kl'rt responded in a deep tone.

It was astounding how far away Ben ended up from where the battle had just commenced. A crowd was now gathering under the suspension bridge as Ben was seen pulling himself out of the waterway. He stripped off a pile of seaweed &, much to the people's amusement, spat out a fish. Azula had to make a run for it from her new endearing audience in front of the Baxter Building after obtaining Ben's location through L.Y., who got the reading from H.E.R.B.I.E. She could avoid a media interview for the moment as a bonus. "Hey, Ben!" she yelled while pushing through the same throng.

"Blue Blaze? Thank goodness. You're not gonna believe what happened."

"Tell me you didn't purposely drag yourself this far from there." She eyed the Baxter Building & let out a laugh.

"Listen, let's get back there, & clobber them aliens before we have an abduction. I ain't gonna miss my show tonight."

"Then let's get going!" She ran ahead to lead the way. Ben caught up with her & they ran strides as big & fast as possible. Even a cab was most likely too slow, given the urgency of the situation.

Azula felt she had to pour out a problem to a pair of ears willing to hear, so she asked in spite of her breathlessness, "Ben?"

"What's up?"

"A bunch of people now know I have superpowers. I'll be on the news, I mean, we're talking _worldwide_.."

"What? You nervous?" He chuckled all of a sudden. "Welcome to the club!"

"No, I'm serious. I predict that reporters will ask...how I got my powers. It ain't too pretty."

"The fastest way out is to tell 'em. Maybe it hadn't been pretty getting your powers, but using them everyday - what's there to miss?" A nice grin curved up his face.

"Great advice..I'll try." She felt at ease with his kind words. **Encouraging one another daily** did conform to the very spirit of the FF.

***

"L.Y., I wish to access the prototype, please. Hurry!"

"Yes, Dr. Ozai."

He sped along the penthouse corridor where the team had just been minutes ago. At least there were no baddies roaming about. Whatever the giant ship above him was (or contained!), it presented to him a golden opportunity to test out his creation, Leopard X. How smoothly it would function. How versatile it would move. & how strong the armour would be. A very, very important progress report would have to be prepared for L.Y. Weapons based on the robot's performance today. More critically, the Four were nowhere to be found; surely they'd been alerted about the UFO's presence.

Down in the lab, he took a deep breath, & slipped on some leather padding before stepping into his robot masterpiece.

"I'm counting on you too, L.Y. Besides myself. Let's both make this work."

* * *

* "Zed" is Johnny's nickname for Azula. See my story "To Fight Fire with Fire or Not".


	3. Conflict

Kl'rt had had his men setup specific machinery to use on each FF member. Reed was strapped to a spiral cone built into the ceiling. There were horizontal grooves in the cone where his body fit in. & the cone spun - with each spin, Mr. Fantastic's body was tugged & elongated painfully, with each inch getting closer to exceeding its elastic limit i.e. possibly snapping apart. Sue had a sphere fastened around her whole head; her limbs somehow tied to a ellipse-shaped machine that jolted her with purple sparks. Her body quivered violently with each surge. Andrew was strapped to what looked like a surgical table. "Well, The Thing's probably gonna come smashing in. & he'll save the day. Johnny probably escaped & is coming to rescue us too." It haven't yet occurred to him how immensely real the 'tour' was. If he didn't figure things out & call it quits....

"This feels so real...," he continued, now in a hyperactive mood.

"Er, Andrew. This _is_ real. We're not making this up. The prize was just a uniform, I think. Plus an armband. Not this. There's an 84.7% chance we're not gonna survive this."

Andrew was speechless. His smile had been unfortunately wiped clean.

"But you brought up a good point earlier..I wonder why they'd separate Johnny from us...," Reed asked in his 'scientist' tone, temporarily thinking lightly about their predicament.

Right below the Skrull command ship, there was too a much smaller Kree spaceship which had been rendered invisible to Kl'rt's minions. The Human Torch had been taken here to face the wrath of a villain making his comeback.

"Hellooooooooooooooo, anyone home?" Johnny's words echoed about the wide space. "Man, this thing itches...," he muttered lowly, pulling hard to try removing a power-nullifying Kree collar around his neck. But this contraption was an inkling of the almost infallible science of the Kree empire; it seemed to work each time was used. "Hey, is anyone listening? Can I get a soda or my powers turned back on?"

"Jonathan Spencer Storm....," a voice so formal & familiar reverberated through the space. "Long have I waited for this day." He inched toward Johnny & couldn't care less how much time he took to taste the vengeance. He relished even the thought of it. Johnny stared back & squinted almost innocently. His adversary went on with his earnest wording,

"My revenge on the Fantastic Four is at hand, & you_ especially_ will suffer for what you've done."

"Do I know you?" Believe it or not, Johnny was serious. His tone had zero sarcasm.

"_What?!_" Ronan was just about speechless, so the words came out breathy. His eyes were suddenly set alight with rage.

"Well...you look sorta familiar but I can't place you; I'm really bad with faces," he grinned sheepishly. His mirth really irritated the Kree.

"You _LIE_! _Surely you remember our battle inside the Arena of Judgment_! Your _heroics_ caused me to be banished forever from the Kree empire!!!"

"Oh.......yeah!" Ronan inched closer in bigger strides. "Oh, wait. No I don't." Ronan halted, letting himself fume far more & growling in utter disgust. The rage was on the verge of boiling over.

***

"Don't! Pleeeeeeeeease!" screamed Andrew when he found his voice. A device boasting deadly spinning blades was a hair's breadth from him. & still moving closer.

"You have accompanied the Four on their mission, even into our command ship. Surely you're braver than this!" said the Skrull handling the device.

"It was a misunderstanding! I-I didn't expect _this_!''

"I don't even think he has superpowers...," muttered the disappointed alien.

All of a sudden, Kl'rt stormed in with clenched fists, "Report. Have you found The Thing yet? & the girl?"

"Still searching, commander."

Reed found a way to cut in, "Clearly you used our DNA to transform yourself into a super warrior. Which is brilliant, by the way. But why only you?"

"_Silence, human!_" ordered the Super Skrull.

"Why not create an army of Super Skrulls? You would've taken over Earth easily!"

"Enough!"

"The human raises an excellent point, Commander. Why have you not released the secret behind your powers?" said the Skrull in charge of Andrew.

"Yes...**a cord of many strands is not broken quickly...**," another Skrull bravely added.

"How dare you question me? I am Commander of this army, chosen by the Empress herself. Carry on with the dissections! & put a gag on Mr. Fantastic."

Reed, making use of what humour was left, said, "It was just a simple question..."

***

"You _must_ remember me!" Ronan knocked Johnny into a wall. "_Ronan!!!!! The Grand Accuser of the Kree empire!!!!!!_"

"So, you're not the Mole Man," uttered Johnny, cheeky as ever.

"No! For the last time!!! I sacrificed everything, allied myself with Skrulls...all to take my revenge on YOU!! & you don't remember me?"

"Uh, well, you'd be surprised how many blue people we meet! Okay, okay, what were you wearing when we met? Maybe that will help!"

Temper flying through the roof, Ronan lost it. He yelled in frustration & swung his weapon. All Johnny saw was an incredibly bright streak emanating from his foe's staff. Then a sharp pain hit his chest. The rest was all pitch black, apart from him hearing himself groan before everything went blank. That cooled Ronan's nerves for the moment; Kl'rt wanted to speak to him via remote contact. Ronan looked at an appearing screen showing Kl'rt - the Skrull leader was in another room, hiding from his fellow minions in order to pass the urgent message, "You have what you want, Kree. Now uphold your end of the bargain. Give me the genetic keys so that I can create _more_ Super Skrulls." Ronan couldn't help but vent out more anger, "How dare you make demands of me, Kl'rt? Without my science, you would be powerless! I created the Super Skrull!" This seemed out of context for Kl'rt who could do nothing but blink in slight confusion. Ronan is possibly the proudest of foes, he thought deeply. He really, really felt like sighing. "Quiet, Ronan! If my men learn of our alliance, they'll destroy the both of us!"

Ronan finally kept his tongue in check. The ship shook abruptly & startled them both. Something was amiss on their side, but on the other hand, help was on its way for the FF.

The Skrulls in the large torture chamber gasped upon picking up the sound of a feline roar, coming from the direction of a newly-torn hole in part of the ship. Out of it jumped Ben first, flanked by Azula in her new outfit & Ozai in his silver cyborg armour. Leopard X, the robot, was powered by L.Y.'s system & operated mostly by Ozai's actions. L.Y. controlled Leopard X's tail & could also get the robot to produce intimidating growls, snarls & hisses for her artificial intelligence, all in tandem with Ozai's body movements. The project had involved relentless research on feline physique.

Ozai charged on four legs (the robot's forelegs were built with length extension, allowing easy movement on all fours for even a human), & commanded, "L.Y., tail the machine unit to set Reed free!" Ozai's robotic tail was about two metres in length, but could unfold to become twice as long to lash enemies or wreck not-so-tough obstacles. He halted at a good distance, & the thick leopard tail unfolded before smashing the processor of the spiral cone containing Reed.

Reed asked, releasing himself from the machine, "What took you so long?"

Ben snapped for fun, "Hey, it's rush hour! Gimme a break!"

Reed tapped a button on the contraption holding Sue to release her. "Reed? I..I couldn't see, I couldn't hear..I didn't know where I was."

"You may be happier not knowing."

"Oh. Yeah, I think you're right."

"You okay, pipsqueak? They didn't switch out your brain or anything?" Ben asked Andrew while ripping off the table straps. Andrew hadn't yet caught his breath but stuttered, "Yeah...I'm okay...can we get outta here now?!"

Azula alerted them all, "We've got company!"

A voice throbbing with fury cut her speech, "_That_ won't be happening..." Kl'rt was burning with intense flame as more Skrulls skittered into formation around him.

"Do we have a plan? Or are we just making it up as we go?" questioned Ben.

"We need to find Johnny. We'll need his power if this turns into a full invasion."

"I'll get him," Ozai offered, sounding a little amplified through his leopard helmet. He motioned to Azula to tag along.

"Destroy them!" Super Skrull instructed his minions. Azula hopped onto Leopard X's back & Ozai sprinted gracefully into the tunnel the aliens emerged from. In between strides, he leapt several feet high & long to dodge Skrull laser beams. He verbally instructed L.Y. to now find out Johnny's location, again via H.E.R.B.I.E. Fortunately enough, tracking FF members could be done by efficient means such as this. The two of them stopped for a breather in a dim corner; Skrulls were heard barking orders & running amok but did not see them. L.Y. lowered her voice volume, "Dr. Ozai, location of the Human Torch is no more than twenty metres east of your current position."

"Great job," Ozai responded. Azula hopped off his back noiselessly & ran to the right - she looked out a window, but couldn't guess where Johnny would be as the space outside was quite vast. But when Ozai joined her, his robotic eyes actually made out the invisible Kree spaceship, sunlight reflecting very slightly off it surface. The Skrull command ship next to it had brushed against it a little, pushing it further out into the open. Through Leopard X's lenses it wasn't exactly conspicuous. "Jackpot," muttered Ozai.

***

"For right now, duck!" shouted Reed. He stood right by Andrew to partially shield him. Sue crouched & created a flat but wide force field. Skrulls were heading their way & morphing into the bigger, stronger dragon-like versions of themselves. Many an ugly growl rose from beneath their throats. Ben clobbered the two leading ones, slamming his whole lower arm into the mouth of the second Skrull.

"You just broke all yer teeth, didn't you?" he said. The poor Skrull admitted it with a nod, before Ben flung him down.

"I'm afraid of heights...," Andrew stammered. "Fear of heights is irrational. It's much more accurate to say you have a fear of falling," said Reed, sparing the moment for some itsy bitsy science. He grabbed Andrew & stretched his way out of the ship through the hole Ben had made.

"C'mon, Susie! Last one down has to clean all this up!" yelled Ben as he & Sue exited the ship on a force field platform. Reed & Rupert joined them as they were flying down near the Baxter Building entrance.

"Okay, one: I am _not_ cleaning this up. & two: any thoughts on surviving this? He beat us pretty easily last time..," Sue muttered hurriedly.

"That does it. Is there any way you can take me home??" Andrew asked, his words waning with the weight of panic.


	4. Comrades

Ronan boomed at the screen, "Skrull! Answer me! What's going on?"

A door of the chamber opened. Most of the surveillance & security devices lining the ship's corridors were now offline. Ozai had tested Leopard X's pulse lasers on them. Azula didn't mind letting her flames lick at them as well.

Ronan watched two figures walk into the chamber, preparing for trouble. "_Abducting the Human Torch_ is what's going on," Ozai replied to Ronan. He had heard the Kree whinging in anxiety earlier. Johnny lay nearby, not flinching or opening his eyes. Leopard X snarled till Ronan felt the strong vibrations of the sound.

Ronan turned & held his weapon defensively. His now shaky voice shifted slightly in pitch, "Who are you?! _Dare _you interfere with the matter at hand?"

Ozai muffled a laugh he found hard to hold back after seeing Ronan's perplexed expression, & said, "Why not?" Without any warning he sprang for the Kree, hissing loudly & sharply. Ronan held up his staff in time to save his hide. Now Leopard X was on two legs; Ozai programmed the robot to toggle between Dupe Mode & Quad Mode. His front paws, out of which deadly curved metal claws jutted out, put so much pressure on Ronan's staff that he clenched his teeth hard. The two of them tussled. They were both very large in size (towering at over seven feet in height) & would inflict much damage if they wrestled on the street. Azula crouched low to the ground, getting ready to help her father, but his eyes flickered to her & he told her, "Try waking Johnny, & make your escape! This alien may be the only one around but _play safe_!" Ronan tried ramming a fist into the robot's jaw. Ozai lowered his head in time. He decided to take his paws off the staff, & switched to Quad Mode. It was time to try slash attacks - to make full use of the claws.

"But dad, I -"

"No 'buts'!!!" He clawed at his opponent, scratching the staff. An opening to strike differently presented itself: with his cyborg leopard's fangs, he grabbed the Kree by the shoulder. Metal teeth sinking into Ronan's clothing, he flung him head over heels till he tumbled to the floor head first.

Another awkward moment for Azula. She may be tutoring Johnny everyday, but everything was casual & they went as far as small talk. She probably wanted to remain the _better one_ in combat; perhaps she wanted the competition to burn on although it wasn't so fierce as before. She was in fact only sharing her smallest kung fu secrets - for if she taught him everything, he'd outperform her. **The student who was fully trained will become like the teacher.** _Yikes!_ What was there to like about _that_, given the high probability that Johnny would eventually develop a boosted ego? Yet the little voice in her head persisted, pestering her to carry on imparting her knowledge to him.

"Hey, Hotstuff!" she barked as she kneeled beside Johnny. "Wake up, let's move!" Very hesitantly, she shook his shoulder firmly. No response. She tried again, shaking harder. Ozai cracked a "Master Lock" around Ronan's bulky frame. Ronan gripped his staff, barely managing to fire a spark in a backward direction. It stunned Ozai & broke his hold on the angered alien. Quickly, Ronan summoned a special Kree flight platform to make a getaway. He was gone in seconds. Still, not bad for my first, thought Ozai while picking himself back up.

Johnny was coming back to his senses. It took him several breaths to open his heavy eyelids; he could make out the lights of the ceiling. However, a dark irregular blur of a shape seemed to loom over him. "Hotstuff, let's get up & running!" the figure spoke in urgency. Johnny's hearing wasn't yet in tune even to recognize the voice, though. "Wh-what's..your name? Where are we? & are you asking me...out???" he mumbled. He didn't know he was grinning a grin so stupid that it would get him embarassed. He felt a little mischievous, just as he would each time he rescued a _pretty girl_. He heard a long sigh implying a feeling of annoyance in response. Azula was rolling her eyes, even tempted to slap her palm to her face.

"Jonathan? Can you hear me?" a second voice asked him. This one was easier to identify: deep & courteous.

"Dr. O? Dr. O! Niiiiiiice suit.....," said Johnny, springing up into awareness. Now his sight was especially clear. Azula was eying him with a strange expression, her hazel irises looking fiery gold with the room lights being reflected off them. Her looks were close to freaking him out this instant, only...her eyes were actually _quite the spectacle_. Aware of his silly conduct a moment ago, he shook his head violently to snap out of the daze completely. "Oh, Zed..I uhmmm..._what took you so long_?! Can't you see I would've been fried crispy by the blue guy?" he snapped. Apologizing was still at the very bottom on his to-do list.

"You're welcome," sighed Azula. There wasn't a minute for games.

"Okay, you two. Wrap it up. We have to leave," said Ozai.

***

Kl'rt, still coated in fire, flew out of his ship & down to continue battling the rest. Ben caught sight of him plunging down at top speed, & readied himself, "We're ready for you this time, chump!" With most accurate timing, he grabbed Kl'rt's legs & swung him backward. Super Skrull's next try was to attack Reed using force beams. Sue had learnt a whole new technique: she formed a sponge-like force field around Reed to absorb the oncoming beams. Reed gasped, "Do I even wanna know?"

"No. It was nasty," she answered.

To keep up his fighting spirit & attempt to take some from the team, Kl'rt muttered, "You cannot win...it is as simple as that! I have mastered your powers, I have studied your patterns! There's nothing you can do that I'm not prepared for!" There was a noise of an explosion from above; everyone gazed to see plumes of smoke rising from the Kree ship.

"Hey, hey, wait up! I wanna get to know you better!" shouted Johnny who had taken after Ronan in the air. An alarmed servant of Kl'rt who had detected Ronan from inside the command ship's cockpit screeched, "A Kree! Alert the Commander!" The atmosphere became more hectic on the side of the Skrulls. "No....," Kl'rt said, rendered speechless by what he knew but didn't expect to occur this day. Ronan was within sight of everyone now; in broad daylight, posing a threat to his position as Commander, let alone as a trusted servant of the Empress.

Reed pointed out inquisitively, "Ronan the Accuser? It doesn't make sense. The Kree & Skrulls are enemies; why would -"

"A supervillain team-up!" Andrew interjected with great excitement.

Ronan spun around to shoot at Johnny. Countless questions, frustrations & worries were clouding his focus & coursing through his veins. That increased the difficulty for him to aim well. "Missed, ha ha! Now, seriously, don't tell me. Did we meet at a party? Are you...from the Negative Zone? You a friend of Doctor Doom's?" Johnny mocked.

"I will grind your bones to dust!!!!" Ronan roared.

When he turned, Kl'rt met his gaze with eyes that demanded a conversation, his figure stretched high above ground. The Skrull leader complained, "Ronan, you fool! You ruined everything..."

"I'm the fool? The genetic key to recreate your powers was destroyed when the Human Torch escaped! You Skrull imbecile!"

Atop the Baxter Building roof where Leopard X & Azula had landed, they both had to figure out how they'd get their legs all the way down to assist the FF. Ozai's armour weighed too much to be lifted by Johnny. Azula disagreed to chase after Ronan too, for she & Johnny were currently giving each other cold shoulders. She was plain annoyed. But she didn't know _he _was having totally mixed feelings whirling around in his thoughts. "There isn't a choice. I'll scale the building wall, only I'll do it downward. Climb onto my back," Ozai then told her. She found the words, & refused, "No, dad. I wanna show you something." She jumped off the building ledge for the second time.

"Azula!!!!!!" Ozai shouted. But she was falling too fast; she'd reach the ground before him no matter what. He fought back thoughts on how she might land if she made a mistake. Perhaps it was high time he dropped his protective parental nature toward her. Still in Quad Mode, he fastened his claws to the building wall, & descended swiftly & smoothly to join the others.

"All of this.....for NOTHING...," said a pessimistic Kl'rt.

"We were right in the middle of something, pal," said Ben as he pulled Super Skrull's elongated body back to ground level.

Reed had sifted through the clues to guess the villains' scheme correctly, "That's it, isn't it? You don't have an army of Super Skrulls is because you don't know how! You need Ronan to do it. You need Kree science! Quite a price to pay working with such a hated enemy. I wonder if the rest of the Skrulls will understand."

It was Super Skrull's turn to fire up his temper. In a fury he launched several fire blasts, only to be missed by Reed's flexible bending.

"That sounds like a 'no'," Reed concluded. Ronan hovered above him & raised his staff to fire. He was a tad too slow; Johnny knocked him off course, sending him hurtling to the concrete below. Johnny clumsily half-crashed too, panting hard, & so desperate to lie down. "Can I take a nap now?" he struggled to say. From the corner of his eye, though, he noticed Super Skrull charging forward with a rock fist attack about to happen. "Guess not. Flame on!" said Johnny. Some familiarly seen black crows perched onto a planter box nearby & reverted to Skrulls; Kl'rt experienced a boost in confidence.

"Reed!" gasped Sue while hurling projectiles that were evaded by Kl'rt's curling body. Simultaneously, the admittedly skillful Skrull blocked Ben & Johnny's attacks too. Reed encased Kl'rt tightly with his widened body, motioning to his best friend, "Ben, now!" Ben obeyed, pulling back a fist to smash the Super Skrull. But Kl'rt had released Reed's hold with a spherical force field.

"So ends the Fantastic Four..," said Kl'rt in a sinister fashion. In the last second, he had delivered a double punch attack to Sue & Johnny too.

"It's Fantastic Five today. _Plus more_," a deep roar pierced the air. Leopard X was balancing on a pole just metres from everyone else, tail twitching (this was Ozai's favourite animalistic effect). He & the team looked to see Azula, perched on a platform near them as well. Ozai breathed in deep relief that somehow, his daughter's powers could save her life when it came to free falling. Kl'rt had a powerful kick delivered to his side & something leapt away from him after it hissed at him. A flash of grey, silver & blinding green now circled him. It snarled ferociously & lashed its tail smack into the middle of his ribcage. Everything was spinning as he groaned in confusion. The minion Skrulls leapt into action to tussle with the FF, Azula joining them with an exuberance. Some of the aliens carried ray guns & others augmented themselves into uglier forms. Ozai had seen those before. However, his sharp eye saw that two of the Skrulls also brandished a weapon with a needle at the tip - much like a doctor's syringe, but far more menacing. Reed told him some weeks back about their first experiences with that particluar alien race. _If Super Skrull had obtained the FF's abilities..._

Just then, Andrew glanced at a passer-by's violin case - & an idea occurred to him. Apologizing to the case's owner, snatching it & taking out a violin bow, he sprinted back to the scene of commotion & whacked a couple of Skrulls crazily! They decided to drop the sharp tipped weapons they held & crept toward him with bared fangs. Ozai didn't know for sure whether or not those peculiar weapons were_ DNA extractors_, but more relief washed over him now that Andrew distracted the creatures. To minimize the risks, he kicked the objects far from the Skrulls' reach. A Skrull's wing attack caught Azula off guard & got her pratfalling onto some hard stone. Another Skrull aimed his ray gun at her before Johnny rammed into him. Things went at a pace so rapid that Johnny temporarily forgot about the embarrassment with Azula back in the ship. He scooted over to her & pulled her up, taking her by the hand. As she got up her right foot slipped, putting her in an uncomfortable position as she half fell forward. Her head was on his chest; was his body temperature always this close to feverish? She could sense the disparity of temperatures between his body & the air around her. & it felt..._good_. Cozy, even. Never mind. They hastily corrected their stances lest weirder happenings occur.

"Let's get to the bottom of this," said Reed with impatience.

"I couldn't agree more," Ozai seconded him. Leopard X's eye's lit up intensely; he was gathering power to fire his lens lasers. Azula & Johnny threw glances at each other, refraining from smiling. It was as if they were conveying signals; next they both each formed a raging fireball with fluid hand movements - an energy-saving technique Johnny picked up from her. Sue wanted to create deadly force field disks to use against Kl'rt. Ben took down the last few standing Skrulls behind the others. All in sync, Ozai, Azula, Johnny & Sue unleashed their powers upon Super Skrull. There wasn't any way he could wholly block the blast, for concentrated light rays in the form of Ozai's lasers & searing hot blue fire were thrown into the mix of the attack. He stumbled in a clumsy heap of stretched limbs & body. Reed secured a firm grip around the defeated alien commander.

"What are you waiting for? Destroy them!" Kl'rt barked weakly. He was starved of strength even to speak. Plus his men weren't eager to comply. One of them answered back brashly, "Explain the Kree, commander."

"How dare you imply -," Kl'rt stared.

Johnny indirectly let the secret loose, "Hey, I know you! I saw you on the video phone with that err, blue guy! I don't know what a Kree is, but I saw you guys talking..." Ronan slinked away on his platform that very moment & vanished from everyone's field of view. His easy escapade was immeasurably unfair to Super Skrull.

"You will pay for this...especially you! Human Torch!" growled Kl'rt.

"Me? Why's it always me?" whined Johnny.

Kl'rt boiled with such rage that the quivering of his muscles gradually turned to throbs. He desired an escapade on his own accord too; he succeeded. Exploding dangerously into flames, he got out of Reed's clutch & darted away with his helpers on his tail, possibly to track Ronan down & initiate a reformation of villainous plots.

"Well, that wasn't fun," Ben commented. Johnny stood puzzled, "Why do all these aliens hate me? I'm awesome. I don't get it."

Reed faced Andrew, Ozai & Azula with a cheerful smile, "Andrew, you - & I can't believe I'm saying this, but you three saved us. Thank you." The weight of guilt pressured Sue to tell their winning contestant, "Well, I'm sorry your special day was ruined, Andrew. How about you come back & we can try it again?"

"Well, of course I wouldn't mind!" said Andrew, still holding the violin bow. Ozai removed his helmet to breathe better air. "I need to relax. Are you a violinist?" he asked Andrew. "Yes. Why?" replied Andrew, blinking curiously. "Do you mind playing Vivaldi's "Summer"? I'll give you a tip," Ozai requested. By coincidence that was Andrew's forte piece. He went to the guy owning the instrument case, who reluctantly let him borrow the instrument itself. He trotted back & played away with clarity that satisfied its listeners. "Intriguing. My next free time study shall be on violin bow physics," Reed randomly announced.

"Are we expecting paparazzi?" asked Azula very seriously. Ben chortled. Sue then added, "Yeah, uhm, speaking of _that_...I'd have to say congratulations!!! You've just earned your rank as -"

_"New superheroes! _Get the cameras rolling! We need a cover story this _BIG!!!"_ shouted some people among a throng of noisy New Yorkers who were hurrying to the scene. They consisted mainly of anxious reporters hungry for interviews. "Brace yourself," Sue warned them.

"No, no, my music! Oh, fine. I'll make it quick," muttered Ozai. "My superhero name will be _Leopard X_."

"How about Zed?" Johnny asked.

Azula answered instantly with her signature smile, "The _Blue Dragon_."


End file.
